Twin your toilet and help flush away poverty

Join the band of toilet twinners like Cornish photographer Simon Henderson who has linked his loo to a latrine in the developing world in time to mark World Toilet Day on 19 November ...

Photographer Simon Henderson, from Warbstow, Cornwall, has twinned his toilet just in time to mark World Toilet Day on 19 November, and in the process found he has snapped up the 10,000th twinning.

Simon, who attends church at the Week St Mary Circle of Parishes with his family, joins a growing band of twinners, ranging from churches to construction companies and scout troops to schools. They have all helped to flush away poverty by twinning their loos with a latrine overseas. Each toilet is awarded a framed certificate, with a photo of the twinned latrine and its GPS co-ordinates.

Simon learnt about the initiative while selling his greetings cards next to the Toilet Twinning stand at the New Wine festival, Shepton Mallet. “It’s a bit different from other charities because you pay a one-off £60 to twin your toilet and that supports water and sanitation projects overseas.”

Toilet Twinning general manager Lorraine Kingsley said: “We are thrilled that Christians like Simon, along with many churches and church groups, have been inspired by the Toilet Twinning idea since its beginning in 2009. Their generous support enables us to help some of the 2.6 billion people worldwide without access to a decent loo.”

The money raised through Toilet Twinning is used by charities Cord and Tearfund to improve access to clean water and safe sanitation, and to promote hygiene in some of the world’s poorest countries. This is one of the most cost-effective ways to release people from poverty: for every £1 spent on water and sanitation, £8 is returned through saved time, increased productivity and reduced health costs.

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